Lock for whip-sockets.



J. M. CONWAY; LOCK FOR WHIP SOCKETS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19. 1912.

1 ,O54,340, Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

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4 flfl'ouwq COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASHINGTON, u. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. CONWAY, 0F BESSEMER, ALABAMA. ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES P. HAMMOND, OF FOSSIL, ALABAMA.

LOCK- FOR WHIP-SOCKETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25,1913.

Application filed June 19, 1912. Serial No. 704.499.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern Be it known that 1, James M. Co-mvar, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Bessemer, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks for lVhip-Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a very simple, inexpensive and yet effective device which may be applied to any type of whip socket so that the whip may be readily locked therein against removal or theft.

Those who drive carriages and wagons and have to leave the same are continually having their whips stolen as no device of a sufficiently economical character has been devised which will enable the whip to be readily locked in its socket when so desired and which yet leaves the socket available for the customary use.

One important advantage of my invention is that it may be readily applied to the present type of whip sockets at a nominal expense.

My invention consists broadly in the pro vision of what may be termed a false bottom which is inserted in the socket and yieldingly supported therein so as to offer suflicient resistance to prevent it becoming depressed below a certain point when the whip is inserted in the socket in the ordinary manner. lVhen the whip is forced into the socket, however, the false bottom will move down below its predetermined normal position and will release a spring catch which will engage the whip stock and positively prevent its withdrawal until a suitable key is inserted and the catch retracted, whereupon the false bottom assumes its normal operating position in which it holds the catch retracted. In referring to a false bottom, I mean to include any type of depressible element which will support the whip stock and which, by its position, automatically controls the looking and releasing of the catch.

My invention further comprises the details of construction and arrangement of parts which, in their preferred embodiment only, are disclosed in the accompanying drawings and are hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings :Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View through my device showing the parts in normal operating position. Fig. 2 is a similar view slunving the parts when moved to lock the whip stock. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the means for unlocking the catch. Fig. -1f an enlarged side view of the lock showing the spring catch in dotted lines.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

1. have shown my invention in connection with a whip socket 1 which may be of any standard construction and which has a bottom drainage opening 2. A coil spring 3 rests in the bottom of the socket and supports a false bottom i which will slide freely in the socket 1 and which also has a bottom drainage opening 5. This false bottom is preferably c vlimlrical in shape with a concave bottom. screw stop (i is inserted through the walls of the socket l and serves to limit the upward travel of the bottom 4 under the action of spring 3. I attach to the side of the socket 1 a lock casing 7. connecting it rigidly thereto in any suitable manner, as by rivets. and within this casing I secure a spring 8 which has its bottom end 9 bent upwardly and secured to the outer wall of the casing 7. The free end 10 of the spring is provided with a flat top which terminates in a downwardly inclined point 11. This point projects through an opening 12 in the wall of the socket 1 and normally presses against and is held retracted by the side wall of the bottom 41. The top edge of the portion 10 moves with a close clearance between it and the top edge of the slot 12. A key 15 is adapted to be inserted through a suitable key hole in the casing 7. The key has a wing 16 and an end bearing projection 17 adapted to enter an opening 13 in the side wall of the casing opposite the key hole. This arrangement furnishes a bearing for the key so that projection 16 may be swung to engage the spring 8 and move it to retract its point 11 sufficiently to permit the socketl to spring up against its stop 6 and hold the catch retracted.

In normal operation the stock 19 of the whip is inserted in the socket 1 and will rest on the false bottom 2 without depressing the same sufficiently to move it past the point 11 of the catch and under these conditions the whip socket may be used just as if it were not equipped with a locking mechanism. l/Vhen a person desires to lock his whip in the socket, the stock 19 is depressed with sufficient force to urge the bottom 4 against the action of spring 3 into an extreme lowered position when its side wall will clear the point 11 of the spring catch and permit the latter to spring inwardly into a posit-ion to engage the stock of the whip. The sharp point 11 and its angular disposition downwardly will cause it to positively grip the stock and prevent it being drawn out of the socket until the key 15 is inserted and the catch retracted. Vhen an upward pull is exerted on the stock the top portion 10 of the spring will be drawn against the top of the slot 12 and will be braced by the socket so that the mechanism will have to be torn to pieces to remove the whip. The catch 11 is designed so its end 10 will not spring so far into the socket (when the bottom 4: is depressed by a smaller device than the whip stock) that it might be broken or injured by the later insertion of the whip stock without having first used the key to retract it.

I do not desire to limit myself to the details of construction shown, as they present merely the preferred embodiment of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination, a whip socket, a spring therein, a depressible whip supporting sleeve resting on said spring in the socket, and a catch having a pointed end adapted to project into the socket and engage a whip therein, said catch being held out of operating position in the socket by said sleeve support until the latter is abnormally depressed.

2. In combination, a whip socket having a depressible spring supported tubular false bottom, a whip locking catch normally engaged by the side wall of said false bottom and held under tension thereby out of operative position in the socket, and a lock and key means to retract the catch.

3. A whip socket having a lock casing connected to its side which has a slot therein, a spring catch having a pointed end adapted to project through the said slot, a tubular false bottom in the socket, a spring which urges said bottom upwardly to cover i said slot and hold the catch retracted, means to stop the up travel of the bottom, and key means to retract the catch, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES M. CONlNAY. WVitnesses:

J. M. BUTLER, J. P. Honors.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Yatents.

Washington, D. G. 

